The Beauty Graveyard

Another month gone by and another load of used up beauty products. I just realised this is my second Beauty Graveyard post this month! I seem to be using things up at lightning speed lately.

*'s represent how many times a product has been featured in a Beauty Graveyard post.

AVEDA Pure Abundance Volumising Shampoo - I think the conditioner that goes with this shampoo was in my last beauty graveyard post so I wont harp on too much. Just know this disappointed me, I didn't find it particularly volumising and I also found it felt very drying when I washed my hair but my hair still got greasy just as quick!

Tara Smith Shine On Conditioner - I did a review of this shampoo and conditioner, so I wont repeat myself but if you are looking for natural and vegan friendly hair products I highly recommend checking out Tara's line which is sold in Marks & Sparks!

Aussie Mega Shampoo - This was a recommendation from my sister, which I only got earlier this month and have already used up in record time. I have greasy hair but for some reason earlier this month it seemed particularly bad. I was moaning to my sister about it and she recommended the Aussie Mega Shampoo and Conditioner to me, so off I popped to Boots (like I need a reason). I am really, really happy with both the shampoo and conditioner. The blurb on the bottle says it rinses clean with no build up and I think that's very true. The shampoo leaves my hair feeling really clean and soft, and the conditioner is great because it really moisturises my hair but doesn't weigh it down and make it greasy. This will be going in my April favourites and I will be repurchasing ASAP! 

Lush Rehab Shampoo - In my last Beauty Graveyard post I ended up having a bit of a Lush rant about how I hate everything in there except Big Shampoo! I didn't hate Rehab shampoo as much as I hated American Cream conditioner or the Big solid conditioner but I didn't like it either! Like the Aveda this felt very drying in my hair whilst washing but once my hair was dry it didn't feel particularly clean and felt greasy the next day. Bummer.

Lush Big Shampoo * - I know I have expressed my love for this shampoo before but honestly its amazing. I think I would buy it for the smell alone! Leaves my hair feeling so clean and bouncy, j'adore!

Ojon Full Detox Shampoo * - This has been one of my all time favourite shampoos. Its a detoxifying shampoo which you can use once a week to really deep clean your hair. I have loved this shampoo and have used it for the past year or so pretty religiously. As I said this month for some reason my hair has felt even more greasy then usual and I found even my beloved Ojon wasn't working. I think it may be that I have used it too much and my hair has got too used to it, so for now I'm going to give it a little break and hopefully we can be reunited again, sooner rather than later!

E45 Moisturising Lotion ***** - My favourite body moisturiser, sinks into your skin quickly but still leaves your skin feeling hydrated.

Maison Martin Margiela Replica Fragrance in Funfair Evening - This is one product I was really, really sad to use up. I blogged about Maison Martin Margiela's Replica Fragrances before after they were recommended to me by a Beauty Director whilst I was doing some interning. I am head over in heels in love with these perfumes, they smell divine and unique (which I love) plus I would buy them for the packaging alone. I really loved Funfair Evening and I'm kind of gutted its all gone now :( Ive already decided though that I am going to get Beach Walk to replace it, so watch this space for another review!

Johnson's Baby Lotion - Bit of a random one, I have to confess I like using this just because of the baby smell!

Yes To Carrots Hydrating Shower Gel - I don't think I have every really liked a shower gel before, I mean its shower gel! But I did really love this. I am a big Yes To fan, I love that their products contain 99.8% natural ingredients and I am always on the lookout for new Yes To products to try. This felt so lovely and moisturising on my skin, as soon as it ran out I went out and purchased another bottle but I decided to try the Cucumber version. I think I prefer the Carrot to the Cucumber though, so once that runs out I will be back to this.

 Bioderma Crealine H20 ** - I love this makeup remover, I use it when I'm feeling extra lazy and cant be bothered to properly clean my face! It doesn't leave my skin feeling all tight or red and blotchy like makeup wipes and honestly just feels like water. This is something I will always have around.

Alpha H Liquid Gold - When I first discovered Liquid Gold I was obsessed, I would genuinely look forward to using it and I could really notice a difference with my skin. This is my second bottle and a little bit like my Ojon shampoo I  started to notice it wasn't working as effectively for me as it used to. Again I think I may have od'd on this, so I wont repurchase straight away. If you have never tried Liquid Gold though I really would recommend it.

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish - I really got back into my cleanse and polish the last couple of months. I love this cleanser and since using these type of cleansers with a muslin cloth I have noticed I get far fewer spots, so it must be working! Cleanse and Polish isn't the best for removing waterproof mascara but I find it just feels very comforting on my skin and I personally love the smell of it. I will definitely pick this up again.

Elemis Fresh Skin Skin Clear Purifying Face Wash - This is part of Elemis' diffusion line for Superdrug. I cant say I was very impressed with this. I like to have a face wash that I just use in the shower so I didn't use this every day, but I found it to be quite bog standard and no better then say a face wash from Garnier or Neutrogena.

Urban Decay De Slick Oil Control Makeup Setting Spray - You know that saying 'You don't know what you got till its gone' well trust me its been 5 days since this little guy ran out on me and life sucks. This is actually the second bottle of De Slick I have got through and its only when you stop using it that you realise how good it is. This makes my makeup last basically all day (by the end of the evening who cares!) without this, I will go in the toilets on my lunch break and despair as all my makeup has magically disappeared off my face. Honestly De Slick is amazing and the only reason I have waited 5 days is because its pay day tomorrow!

MAC Fix + - OK so this is nothing like De Slick. This does not set your makeup but if I have ever over powdered my face, or I feel like my makeup looks a little cakey in the morning I will spray this all over and then blast my face with COLD air from my hairdryer. I know it sounds very drag queen crazyish but I promise you it leaves you with the best glowy finish!

Illamasqua Brow and Lash Gel - So I finally decided enough was enough and my manky brow gel could be replaced, with a brand new bottle. The Illamasqua brow gel is amazing, I got it on the recommendation of Pixiwoo and I clearly love it as I have gone out and bought it again. If you have particularly unruly brows try this as it keeps them in place all day, but your brows still look natural.

L'Oreal Lumi Magique Concealer - This was a really great under eye concealer. If I compare it to the Maybelline I would say it has slightly less coverage but is more brightening. Another product I would really recommend to you all.

MAC Archie's Girls Veronica Opulash Mascara - Another product I did a review on, I really love this mascara and I already have 2 back ups of it! Just to make it clear, Opulash is in MAC's permanent line but they just repackaged it for this collection.

So there you have it, everything I have used up this past month (crazy!) Im hoping to get through a few more makeup products next month as that is always a big achievement for me ;)

NARS The Happening Palette and Dolce Vita Velvet Matte Lip Pencil

I haven't ummed and ahhed about a makeup purchase like this in a long time. I had read a lot of great things about The Happening Palette by NARS and I have always wanted a NARS palette. I still regret not getting the Danmari blush palette! But I wanted to make sure I would use it, as I am quite specific with the eyeshadow colours I like. In the end I caved, it was selling out everywhere and as it is a limited edition palette I didn't want to miss out again.

The Happening palette contains Orgasm blush and Laguna bronze plus 4 eyeshadow's; Night Star, Gstaad, Kuala Lumpur and Coconut Grove.

I think the inclusion of Laguna won me over. I loved their bronzer in Casino and used it all up, so I have been wanting to try Laguna for a while. I did read a couple of negative reviews about the quality and poor pigment in this palette but I have to say I disagree and am really happy with it. I think the only colour I will struggle to use is Kuala Lumpur, which is the purple colour as I really am a neutrals only type!

As I said this palette was quickly selling out and the only place I could find it online was the NARS website. Now I am not a fan of ordering from NARS direct, their shipping is a rip off at £7.00 and their service is so slow, this took about a week to arrive. If you spent over £50.00 though you got free shipping so I decided to add another item to my basket, I would rather do that then pay their extortionate shipping fees!

I opted for one of the Velvet Matte Lip Pencils in the colour Dolce Vita. I had seen a picture online of one of the Olsen Twins wearing this and it looked beautiful. I would describe it as a dusky red rose, its a beautiful colour and I love that its matte, I would go as far as describing it as a sexy colour! This didn't feel drying on my lips unlike some matte products but the only downside is that its not self sharpening.

I wore both of these today so I thought I would share how I used the palette.

For my eyes I used Gstaad all over the lid and underneath the bottom lash line, in my usual smudgy style. I then added a little bit of Coconut Grove to the top outer lash line and crease and really blended that well. I then used Laguna and blended that all over and quite heavily on my bottom lash line. I really liked using Laguna in this way, bronzers make great eyeshadow's FYI. I then used Night Star as an inner corner and brow bone highlight, finishing off with mascara, no liner.

I also used Laguna as my bronzer and Orgasm for blush. I actually really liked how Orgasm looked on my cheeks. And finally I used Dolce Vita all over my lips.

I really am happy I got this palette and as you can see I have made it work for me and the makeup style I like. If like me you were on the fence about purchasing this, I hope I have encouraged you to jump off  ;)

Face of the Day with Burberry Gold Trench and Revlon Strawberry Suede

I can definitely say I have finally found my makeup "look". I feel like my experimentation years are over and I finally feel a lot more comfortable in my own skin.

I love applying my make up every morning, for me it will never be a chore and I would never skip it, it calms me! But I don't have a lot of time in the morning, at the moment I have to set at least 3 alarms just to wake myself up! Can you tell I hate my job?! So simplifying my makeup makes things a lot easier.

My tip is to pick the feature on your face you like the most, don't worry about the things you don't like. Just concentrate on your best feature then play it up, work what your mother gave you ;) If you have a strong brow bone make sure your eyebrows are defined, you don't even need to bother with eyeshadow just mascara. If you're blessed with naturally big lips wear a bright tinted lip balm and blush. If you have beautiful big brown eyes, skip the liquid liner and use a kohl pencil instead. Smudge it out so it really intensifies your eyes. Once you find the feature you like the most and emphasise it you will forget about the features you are not so keen on. And remember your feature could be your skin, I am so jealous of those of you with freckles. Don't cover them up with a heavy foundation, let them show through!

For me my favourite feature is my eyes so my makeup revolves around them. I always wear some form of bronzey/gold warm toned eyeshadow and I blend it all over my lid and all underneath my lower lash line, really messily. I use warm browney/orange tones as they are the opposite colour to blue on the colour wheel so they will make the blue stand out more. Same for blush and lip colour, I always use a red that has an orange tone it warms my face and brings the attention back to my eyes and away from all the other things I don't want you focusing on ;)

Although my routine tends to stays the same I am always trying different products;

 My current base is Lancome's Teint Miracle. This foundation has a really beautiful finish, its a medium coverage foundation but can be built up or sheered out depending on how you apply it.

One thing that does stay the same is my powder. I love the Laura Mercier Loose Mineral Powder. It gives me a bit of extra coverage so I can skip concealing and it just makes my skin glow.

For bronzer I am still working my way through my Too Faced Chocolate Soleil, again I tend to favour quite warm toned bronzer's.

My under eye concealer varies and at the moment I am using the MAC Prep & Prime Highlighter in the shade "Light Boost" I like this and it doesn't crease but I don't think you need to spend a lot of money on under eye concealers and the Maybelline and L'Oreal Lumi ones are just as good.

Again my blush shade varies on my mood but 9 times out of 10 its going to be some form of red/orange colour. At the moment I am using the NYX powder blush in Red which I love. NYX's blushes are amazing and if you like brighter colours you need to check them out.

Along with my powder my eyebrow products are always the same. MAC Lingering eyebrow pencil and Illamasqua Brow and Lash Gel. I love that Lingering looks natural and doesn't give you the dreaded Scouse brow!

For eyes I normally use the NARS pro prime base to ensure my eye shadow stays on all day long but for a change I thought I would use Urban Decay Primer Potion. I think with eye shadow primers you just need to find the one that works best for you.

So while my general shade of eyeshadow always stays the same, I am always trying different brands and shade variations. Burberry's eye shadows are some of my favourites and for the make up look I like, smudgy, a bit grungy, they are ideal. Almond by Burberry is probably my most well used and I had forgotten I even owned Gold Trench, so it was an exciting rediscovery. Gold Trench is a natural soft golden brown with shimmer. I blended that all over my lid and underneath my lower lashes with a MAC 217 brush.

To finish off the eyes I need a shit load of mascara. I love Maybelline's Full 'N Soft as it keeps my lashes looking natural and doesn't leave them all clumpy and crispy.

Last but by no means least we have lips. I have my favourites and they all tend to be some form of sheer red! Revlon's Matte lipstick in the shade "Strawberry Suede" is an amazing reddy coral colour that for some unknown travesty has been discontinued! I'm still trying to understand why as the colour is beautiful! If you really are desperate to get your hands on it you can always try searching eBay.

Its quite funny I have been trying to get my hair back to its natural colour and haven't dyed it in almost a year, you can see how dark the ends are in this picture, I'm sure its not that noticeable in real life! Ahh the joys of over processed ends hey!

My Makeup Collection

So this is my 100th post on my blog. I don't know if anyone has even read 1 post let alone all 100 but I really love writing my blog and I will continue to blog even if its just for my pleasure :)

I wanted to mark my 100th post and I thought what better way then a makeup collection, show off the obnoxious amount of makeup I have! I really am quite ashamed that I have so much, I'm not even going to attempt to try to justify myself!

I apologise in advance as this post is picture heavy!

So I have the acrylic Muji storage drawers that a lot of people have but they really are great storage for your makeup. I like that you can see everything you have. I now have 2 sets of these drawers, before I kept some makeup in boxes and I completely forgot about what was in there!

I told you, I don't need any more foundations! I'll pick out a few to mention, the Shiseido Suncare Sun Protection Liquid Foundation will not budge that baby is waterproof. If you are a London commuter, this will be your best friend in the Summer. Its also great to take on holiday due to the high SPF and dinky packaging. The L'Oreal Lumi Magique has a beautiful finish and is a great drugstore foundation. 

Both the Laura Mercier Foundation Primer and Rachel K CC Cream are excellent primers. Pair these with the Urban Decay De Slick Setting Spray and your makeup will last all day. Trust me, I have done all day at the office and gone straight out afterwards on a night out and this combination was a life saviour!

If you are interested in the Laura Mercier primer, they now do it in 30ml travel sizes which is the size I have. Don't waste your money buying the big one, 30ml is the same size as most foundations so will last you ages and saves you money!

OK, so this is powders and bronzers. As you can see I have 2 shades of my beloved Laura Mercier Loose Mineral Powder. I have Real Sand and Natural Beige. I'm almost out of Real Sand which is good timing as that's more my Winter colour.

I have the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Radiant which I recently blogged about and am enjoying trying out. I have a couple of different bronzers waiting to be used when my Too Faced Chocolate Soleil finally runs out! The Revlon Nearly Naked Powder is good but if you are pale you will be stuck, that is the lightest colour they do and the picture is a pretty good representation of how dark it is!

Next drawer is powder blushes and highlights. As you can see I have my new NYX Red blush in there and one of my most favourite products the Dior Rosy Glow blush. A beautiful bright pink blush that I adore.

I love my cream blushes and seem to have accumulated quite a few. The Stila Convertible Colours are probably my favourite, with MAC Cream blushes. I have to give an honourable mention to NARS Cactus Flower, maybe I should do a top 5 blushes? Or top 10?!

I also have a couple of cream bronzers in here. Every time I go back to Soleil Tan de Chanel I'm reminded why I love it so. I'm actually on my second pot! Also the Daniel Sandler Watercolour Creme Blush in Fiji looks amazing when you are tanned. I will 100% be taking that bad boy on holiday with me this year!

I think this drawer could even make grown men cry, my Revlon Lip Butter collection. Let me just have a moment.........OK I'm done! My recommendations are Candy Apple, Wild Watermelon and Tutti Frutti.

I also have my favourite lip balms in here which are the Givenchy Hydra Sparkling Magic Lip and Cheek Balms. These were recommended to me by a Beauty Editor when I was doing work experience and as soon as I got home I ordered one. If a Beauty Editor recommends you a product, you sit up and take notice!

Ahh the infamous Revlon Matte Strawberry Suede, every bit as amazing as you've heard!

So can you tell I'm a strictly neutral eyeshadow kinda girl! Just looking at this makes me happy! There are a lot of cream eye shadows in here as I much prefer cream shadows to powder.

OK honourable mentions Chanel Emmerville, Maybelline Colour Tattoo On and On Bronze, Burberry Almond, Nars Duos in Isolde and Portobello, oh and one more, MAC Prolongwear eyeshadow in One to Watch.

I hope there are some fellow True Blood fans out there who can appreciate my pint glass! I got this in the HBO store in New York, along with a Merlotte's key ring!

Mary and Jesus keeping watch over all my sacred treasures (Not at all judging my hoarding!)

Do you like my scratch off map of the world by the way? This was a present from my sister and her boyfriend and I love it. Although it makes me realise how little of the world I have seen. I have plans though, big plans and this September I will be going to Chicago, Memphis, San Diego and LA so I can do some scratching when I'm back!

This is my second set of Muji drawers, on the top I keep all my skincare bits, my amazing New York Tweezerman Tweezers and my saviour Urban Decay De Slick. By the way the Yes to Cucumbers Soothing Eye Gel feels amazing!

The mug that contains all my eye and lip pencils says "60 years a Queen" before anyone gets any ideas!

This is possibly the cutest piece of makeup I will ever own. Years back Paul and Joe did a Disney collection and in here are some bronzer blush ball things which I have never used but lets be honest I didn't buy this to use it! Paul and Joe please do another Disney collection if you read this!

The next 2 drawers contain all my lip products and I have to be honest, these are so unorganised!

This drawer is more blushes, these are generally more Winter appropriate colours and ones I wont be reaching for as often. Have to mention MAC's The Perfect Cheek blush. This was released with the Marilyn collection and I have only recently stopped using it. Its the most beautiful, natural blush. If MAC ever re-release it make sure you check it out!

I'm not gonna lie this drawer is an absolute shambles of excess stuff that wont fit anywhere else! Note my back ups of MAC's Opulash mascara!

These are my eye shadow palettes, I have some from Kat Von D's Line for Sephora, a really old Dior palette which I would never get rid of. I have also have some Luna Twilight palettes which are actually really nice!

More Kat Von D palettes, A MAC Wonder Woman palette that I don't really use any more, a Louise Young palette which contains the most pigmented black eyeshadow you have ever seen and some Chanel quads which I love.

In my classy Little Mermaid mug I keep all the brushes I use on a daily basis along with all my essentials that I use every day no matter what. It just makes it easier having them all to hand.

So in here I have my eyebrow stuff, Lingering and Illamasqua Brow and Lash Gel, my mascara's and my NARS eyeshadow primer.

Then in the rest of the cabinet I have my skincare, bodycare, haircare stuff. There's nothing really exciting in here to report, a lot of E45!

The white boxes contain all my nail polishes. I just had a major nail polish clear out and got rid of a whole box! Its like I have a disease!

I wont bore you with all the boxes but Ill just show you my most organised (well the only organised) box. This one contains all my OPI's!

So there you have it, please don't judge me! I know I love watching makeup collection videos on YouTube, I don't know what it is about them! While I'm sharing so much with you I thought I would also share one of my most treasured possessions. My best friend bought me this for my birthday a few years ago.....a signed photo of Xander from Buffy! Can you spot it? I am a complete Buffy NERD I have the entire boxset and I reckon I have watched every episode at least 10 times each except Becoming Parts 1 and 2 is probably nearing 100 views! So there you have it, all my dirty secrets exposed!